On 4 Jan 2006 at 20:49, Eric Dannewitz wrote:

> Dennis Bathory-Kitsz wrote:
> > But my point, to repeat, is that the program should make these
> > straightforward features clear without needing help files or
> > manuals. Force a choice, for example, with a radio button ([move
> > notes to transposed position] [copy notes to transposed position])
> > or provide a hover popup as Tobias does.(transposes notes only and
> > deletes original notes; transposes notes and also keeps original in
> > place). That's just an improv on it. A test group would help clarify
> > it.
> 
> See, I'd say that would be totally stupid. If you are going to
> TRANSPOSE something, you are, by default, moving them.
> 
> http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=transpose
> 
> Seriously, we should "dumb down" things.....The last thing I want is a
> ton of stupid windows asking every little detail of what I want to do. 

I think the feature doesn't really belong in the transposition dialog 
box.

I'm not sure *where* it belongs, but that seems like a non-obvious 
corner of Finale to put it in. My bet is that the choice was made 
based on how transposition is implemented (which probably does 
exactly what Dennis described), but this is an example of the "law of 
leaky abstractions," where the underlying plumbing is exposed to the 
user with no illuminating benefit from knowing what's behind the 
scenes.

To me, there ought to be multiple places in Finale where a feature 
like this is available. If that were the case, there'd be multiple 
possible paths to discovery of a feature one is hunting for.

-- 
David W. Fenton                    http://dfenton.com
David Fenton Associates       http://dfenton.com/DFA/

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